New Found Love for Bolthouse Farms

Over the last year I have struggled with an Iron and Vitamin B12 deficiency. I currently inject a monthly B12 shot just so that I can have the same level of energy that every one else naturally produces. Yay. Not. It has been almost a year now, so it doesn’t bother me as much as it did. I can always tell the difference in how I feel toward the end of the month when it is almost time for the next shot. I feel a lot more tired even after getting 8+ hours of sleep. I’ve also had 5 Iron treatments since May 2013 as well. Being iron deficient also can be a cause of the tiredness. Either way, I’ve been struggling with this for a year now and every chance I get I have searched out foods or drinks that naturally contain iron and B12. This is how I found Bolthouse Farms.

I knew that blueberries naturally contained B12, and one day while shopping in Wal-Mart I saw the Bolthouse Farms Blue Goodness drink and picked it up to check it out. The first thing I noticed was that on the side of the bottle it listed the amount of each fruit included in the bottle in addition to the fact that the drink is non-GMO and preservative free. I looked around at all of their different options and noticed that most all of their drinks are non-GMO and some are even gluten free! At my local Wal-Mart I can even get them for $2.68 for the single serving size!

I love drinking the Blue Goodness drink for breakfast. Usually one of the larger bottles is enough for two mornings. When I have drank Bolthouse Farms drinks a few days in a week, I can tell the difference in my energy and how I feel. I know it may be a combination of the B12 shots as well, but when you are OVER being so tired for no reason, you will get excited about anything extra that helps.

**SIDE NOTE: Bolthouse Farms does not only make fruit drinks. They have MANY, MANY vegetable drinks as well. They also sell carrots for snacking, cooking, etc. We love to get their baby carrots for snacks. 🙂 Those can be found in your local produce section. I tried out a few of the vegetable ones and well… I believe I will just have to stick with eating those on the table. I couldn’t do it in the drink form. I need it to be sweet apparently. I wish I would have had someone to share them with, because we just had to throw them away. Even my daughter wouldn’t drink them. Ha! Must run in the family.

 

Below are just a FEW of my favorite drinks from Bolthouse Farms:

 

I will add, that these drinks are not low calorie drinks. So, if you count calories you may want to incorporate these drinks in with a smoothie or shake instead of drinking the whole drink as a single serving. I am sure some of them would be great to make in a smoothie with some protein, plus almond milk or coconut water or water and then add ice, especially the strawberry banana drink.  May have to give that a shot and let you know how it turns out!!

If you decide to try out Bolthouse Farms, let me know which ones you love!

 

 

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Coconut Oil

With my recent life changes and trying to be healthier (and possibly living a little longer), I have found Coconut Oil. I think I may be somewhat behind on this craze, but I am so glad I found it! Coconut Oil has SO many uses it can be completely overwhelming. Even Man of the House says, “let me guess, Coconut Oil can help that, too?” Ha. He won’t admit it, but his heartburn went away the other night after I convinced/forced him to eat a spoonful of coconut oil.

A few of its uses apply to us as a family or individually. Man of the House is not altogether sold on the idea of it, but he goes along with certain things just to please me. Like eating a spoonful to see if it helped his heartburn. He didn’t complain any after that. (For the record, pure virgin, non-GMO coconut oil has zero taste. The consistency is like when butter melts in your mouth, but there is no taste. It is slightly strange at first. It is similar to eating a spoonful of water and butter at the same time.)

Here are some new ways we are using and substituting with Coconut Oil:

1. Substituting butter. Perfect example: We grilled on Sunday, and I made sliced ranch potatoes. I placed the coconut oil in the aluminum foil wrapped around the potatoes instead of butter, and it cooked the same but with less fat.
2. Energy Boost. I read to dip a tablespoon of coconut oil in Chia seeds for an energy boost and to NOT take this at night. I tried it one morning when I was dragging, definitely better than drinking coffee and ending up with stained teeth, etc. TRY IT! (:
3. Healing Stretch Marks. Hey, when you have carried a child and you end up with stretch marks, no matter how minor they are, you’d like a little help making them a little more subtle. I have noticed a changed with only two uses! I will eventually do a separate post on extensive results over a period of time.
4. Helping with weight loss when consumed on a regular basis. I don’t have results or proof of this theory yet, but I am testing it out.
5. Reducing appearance of cellulite. I’m actually not using it for this purpose, but my sister-in-law is. She is a small framed woman who does not need to lose weight, but is uncomfortable with the appearance of cellulite on the back of her thighs. How many of you are in the same situation? Well, I will keep up with her and see how it turns out! In the mean time, it wouldn’t hurt to start trying as well. (;
6. EXTREME FACIAL MOISTURIZER. Unless you have EXTREMELY dry skin, I suggest only using this two or three nights a week. And only at night. (:
7. Helping with Heartburn. Well, this is a premature assumption since we only tried this once. Will be trying this again in the future just to find out.

There are many, MANY other uses for Coconut Oil, but these are the ones we are utilizing right now in our lives. I was given a listing for 101 uses for Coconut Oil! I am going to eventually try as many of them out as possible as long as they apply to our needs and life.

Do you use Coconut Oil? What is your favorite way to incorporate it into your routines?